Webb and some of his cast have returned to the annual San Diego fanfest with the very first footage from the anticipated sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and we’ll be live-blogging the panel tomorrow, Friday, July 19, at 4PM Pacific.
As a lead-up to what’s likely to be a full room, SuperHeroHype/ComingSoon.net got on the phone with Webb following his appearance on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Visionaries” panel in Hall H along alongside Edgar Wright and Alfonso Cuaron.
Although we only had ten minutes, we covered quite a bit of ground in terms of the new villains, as well as trying to figure out why Mary Jane Watson is being saved for future movies.
SHH: One of the things we learned with Hurricane Sandy is that when somebody has the power to take over electricity, it really screws people up big time, so having Electro as a villain in New York is scary in that regard as well.
Webb: Yeah, it’s not just about just turning off the lights, you know? That is just the beginning of Eletro’s terrifying power. He’s somebody who can travel at the speed of electricity, at the speed of light, and disembody himself and reappear when he wants to reappear. I think the idea of Spider-Man having to fight a foe that is that transcendent unleashes a lot of possibilities.
SHH: Absolutely. One of the concerns some of our readers have is because they know there’s two villains as well as introducing the Osborns that there will be some of the problems when there are too many villains. You’ve already said the focus is on Electro, but what do you want to say to these readers who are worried this will be like “Spider-Man 3.”
Webb: Eh. Don’t worry about it. Rhino is in a couple scenes, you know, so he’s a really terrifying and a fun villain, but Electro is our main foe.
SHH: You also bring in Chris Cooper and Dane DeHaan as the Osborns, Norman and Harry, who play such a big part in the Spider-Man mythos. Can you talk about casting those guys and bringing them in? I’m also curious about working with Avi, Matt and Sony to decide who to introduce this time?
Webb: We talk to a lot of people. Like casting Emma Stone, you want to find a chemistry that works between the actors and I think there was a very cool interesting dynamic that developed between Dane and Andrew. Harry and Peter need to have an ease about them. Our conceit is that they were friends from when they were much younger and in order for that to work, you need a sense that there’s a history there and there’s a real great depth to their relationship. They’re sort of like brothers in a way and that’s really palpable. Dane’s a really funny guy, he’s a very funny actor and I think people will start to appreciate that. It’s also exciting for me to find people who aren’t over-exposed, like Andrew with the first movie. Dane I think is somebody that the world is starting to discover just how wonderful an actor he is, how great his look is, how dimensional his performances are. That was a really fun thing to play with. Then Chris Cooper is a genius, he’s an icon, and when you’re talking about Norman Osborn, who is somebody whose presence is known far outside the Spider-Man fans. Everybody knows who Norman Osborn is. You want to feel that. In the first movie, we tried to create an enigma around that and to find an actor that can withstand and support that was tricky, and luckily, Chris agreed to come on board and live out that role.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens on Friday, May 2, 2014.
Make sure to check out our live blog of Sony Pictures’ panel presentation on Friday, July 19, at 4PM Pacific where we’ll describe the footage shown and post quotes from the filmmakers and cast. Also look for our interview with producer Avi Arad sometime later this weekend.
